Analyst Upgrades

• Tyson Foods (TSN) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Carmike Cinemas (CKEC) to buy from neutral at Merriman.
• Ambow Education (AMBO) to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Johnson Controls (JCI) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Dynex Capital (DX) to outperform from market perform at JMP Securities.
• Ensco (ESV) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• York Water (YORW) to buy from hold at Brean Murray.
• Mid-America Apartment (MAA) to market perform from underperform at FBR Capital.
• Cheniere Energy Partners (CQP) to hold from sell at Citigroup.
• Forest Oil (FST) to positive from neutral at Susquehanna.
• Tractor Supply (TSCO) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.

Back on March 13, 2007, I noted the "debt collector group" and give three picks to profit off of subprime woes and predatory lending. These picks have peformed well of late due to some positive news.

Portfolio Recovery Associates Inc. (NASDAQ: PRAA) just proved how being a debt collector can be beneficial. The company beat earnings Tuesday by posting $0.80 EPS versus $0.77 estimates out of First Call. It took this even further by announcing a 1 million share buyback and a $1.00 special dividend. If you look at what the company does, the "Recovery" says it all: provides outsourced receivables management and related services; purchases, collects, and manages portfolios of defaulted consumer receivables and accounts receivable; receivables are the unpaid obligations of individuals to banks, credit unions, consumer and auto finance companies, and retail merchants; provides various collection services, including collateral-location services for credit originators, fee-based collections, and audit and debt discovery/recovery services for government. On March 13 the stock was $43.53. It closed Tuesday at $48.80 in regular trading and went up to $50.02 in after hours. If the bill collectors can't make money off the people walking away from obligations without being flat broke, then who can?